Posted on 12/12/2010 10:14:30 PM PST by bruinbirdman
Art historians are probing a real life Da Vinci Code style mystery after discovering tiny numbers and letters painted into the eyes of the artist's enigmatic Mona Lisa painting.
The numbers and letters are not visible to the human eye but have to be viewed under a microscope
Leonardo Da Vinci's 500-year-old Renaissance masterpiece has long been steeped in mystery, and even today the true identity of the woman with the alluring smile still far from certain.
Now members of Italy's National Committee for Cultural Heritage have revealed that by magnifying high resolution images of the Mona Lisa's eyes letters and numbers can be seen.
"To the naked the symbols are not visible but with a magnifying glass they can clearly be seen," said Silvano Vinceti, president of the Committee.
In the right eye appear to be the letters LV which could well stand for his name Leonardo Da Vinci while in the left eye there are also symbols but they are not as defined.
He said: "It is very difficult to make them out clearly but they appear to be the letters CE or it could be the letter B - you have to remember the picture is almost 500 years old so it is not as sharp and clear as when first painted.
"While in the arch of the bridge in the background the number 72 can be seen, or it could be an L and the number 2."
The painting also featured in the Dan Brown blockbuster The Da Vinci Code, which was turned into a 2006 film starring Tom Hanks. His character interprets secret messages hidden in Mona Lisa and Da Vinci's other works, including The Last Supper.
Mr Vinceti, who has travelled to Paris to examine the painting in the Louvre
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
***Its code in Italian: Has anyone found the original yet?***
Don’t laugh! There are several reproductions of the Mona Lisa dating from the time of Leonardo. Whether they were done by him or his students is not known. One is in a bank bault in Virginia.
There was an article I read about 40 years ago in either LIFE, POST, or LOOK magazine about these other Mona Lisas.
***Mr Vinceti is part of the group asking French authorities for permission to exhume Da Vincis remains from his tomb at Amboise Castle in the Loire Valley.***
Thirty eight years ago there was a TV mini-series on the life of Leonardo. It showed that Leonardo’s bones were on display, with other high ranking dead, in a glass coffin, till rioters broke in and destroyed the coffins, tossing all the bones into a common burial pit.
When I was bery young man, an adventurer came to our school.
He showed slides (some of us will remember them) of his South American jungle trek.
During a stay with one tribe, he ate what they ate. He said he thought it was loaded with Vitamin “L”.
Any way, it tasted like “L”!
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I was given as a present for Christmas “The Da Vinci Code” several years ago. I read the book in a couple of days then watched it stay on the Best Seller list for what seemed like infinity.
The author stole so many ideas from other books that I was aghast.
I could not believe that it did so well in sales.
The movie by the way was even more horrific.
This thread is likely to be a winner because it made me laugh simply at the title. Others will come.
I actually saw the Mona Lisa in person once. It was like looking through Kryptonite. The magazine pictures are better.
If you hold up to a mirror and read it backwards it says Paul is Dead.
LOL!
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